Hurricanes and nursery crops

There is a relation between hurricanes, nursery crops and economy in south Florida. Miami-Dade County is the number #1 producer in ornamental plants that you may see in every office, house or landscape in the US. However, during a natural disaster such as a hurricane (#HurricaneIrma) or tropical storm, the nursery industry is very vulnerable due to many characteristics such as common practices like open structures (shade-houses), crops growing in containers (pots) and open environments for all types and sizes of crops that are very sensitive to high winds who can destroy all these structures used in ornamental nursery production. After the natural disaster takes place, remaining plants left are still sensitive to death because of lack of proper irrigation, flooding or excessive solar exposure.

Last time we were hit by #HurricaneAndrew in August of 1992; the catastrophic damages to nurseries were mainly the result of extremely high winds, with gusts exceeding 200 miles per hour in some locations. Almost all greenhouses and shade-houses, irrigation systems, portable buildings and fences were completely destroyed.

1,300 acres of nursery structures and 4,000 woody ornamental crops were damaged or destroyed. Total losses were estimated at $206 millions. The hurricane caused additional multi-million dollar losses in export sales and supporting industries, and over 7000 jobs were lost. (Hull and Hodges, 1993).

Before the hurricane:

Please, follow safety measures to secure all buildings and structures in your nursery. Some tips, include:

Communication is very important: develop a “telephone contact tree” for all your employees and family members.